Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Mark the Music

Peter Capaldi and Emily Bruni read poetry and prose on the theme of music. With poems by Whitman, Sassoon and Hardy, plus music by Messiaen, Purcell, Pergolesi, Mingus and Glass.

Peter Capaldi and Emily Bruni read poetry and prose on the theme of music, from the metaphysical to the everyday. The programme explores the wide-ranging facets and inescapable power of music: the mystical concept of the music of the spheres, the power of music in childhood and everyday life, music as a psychological tormentor and the beauty of music in performance.

With poems by Siegfried Sassoon, Walt Whitman, Thomas Hardy and Pablo Neruda, and prose by Nick Hornby and Louis de Bernieres. Music to compliment the readings includes works by Messiaen, Purcell, Pergolesi, Charles Mingus, Neil Young and Philip Glass.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 7 Aug 2011 22:15

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Robert Herrick

    A Canticle to Apollo, read by Peter Capaldi and Emily Bruni

  • 00:00

    Olivier Messiaen

    Des Canyons Aux Etoiles [le désert]

    Performers: French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor)

    • DG 471 617-2.
  • Shakespeare

    The Merchant of Venice – from Act V Scene 1, read by Emily Bruni

  • 00:03

    Henry Purcell

    Fantasia a 4 'Three Parts on a Ground'

    Performers: Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen (conductor)

    • Philips 4267142.
  • Censorinus

    from Harmony and Embryology [from De die Natali XI-XII] read by Peter Capaldi

  • 00:10

    Leos JanáÄek

    Sinfonietta [allegretto]

    Performers: Pro Arte Orchestra, Charles Mackerras (conductor)

    • Testament 1325.
  • J F H F Von Dalberg

    A Composer’s Glimpses of the Music of Spirits, read by Peter Capaldi

  • 00:14

    Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

    Salve Regina in F minor [opening salve regina]

    Performers: Andreas Scholl (countertenor), Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset (conductor)

    • Decca 466 134-2.
  • 00:18

    Trad

    Devil's Dream

    Performers: Blanche Coldiron (banjo)

    • Kentucky Old-Time Banjo.
    • Rounder CD 0394.
  • Walt Whitman

    Italian Music in Dakota, read by Emily Bruni

  • 00:20

    Vincenzo Bellini

    Norma [Casta Diva – Act 1 Scene 1]

    Performers: Maria Callas (soprano), Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin (conductor)

    • EMI 7630002.
  • Nick Hornby

    High Fidelity, read by Peter Capaldi

  • 00:28

    Neil Young

    Only Love Can Break Your Heart

    • Reprise 7599-27243-2.
  • 00:29

    J Weatherly

    Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

    Performers: Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Singles Collection

    • Polygram 842 003-2.
  • 00:32

    Conlon Nancarrow

    Study for Player Piano No 49c

    • Wergo 60165-50.
  • Anne Sexton

    Music Swims Back To Me, read by Emily Bruni

  • 00:34

    György Ligeti

    Mysteries of the Macabre

    Arranger: Elgar Howarth Performers: Hakan Hardenberger (trumpet), Roland Pontinen (piano)

    • Philips 426 144-2.
  • 00:37

    Robert Schumann

    String Quartet No 3 in A Major opus 41,3 [adagio molto]

    Performers: Zehetmair Quartet

    • ECM 472 169-2.
  • Clara Schumann

    The Advent of Insanity, read by Emily Bruni

  • 00:44

    Philip Glass

    Concerto for Violin and Orchestra [second movement]

    Performers: Gidon Kremer (violin), Vienna Philharmonic, Christoph von Dohnanyi (conductor)

    • DG 4370912.
  • Pablo Neruda

    Ode to a Violin in California, read by Peter Capaldi

  • 00:50

    Charles Mingus

    Better Git It In Your Soul

    • Columbia/Legacy 01-065145-10/1.
  • 00:50

    Jack Kerouac

    San Francisco Scene (The Beat Generation)

    • Rhino R2 70281.
  • 00:55

    Trad

    Pack Up Your Troubles

    Performers: Band of H M Coldstream Guards

    • Saydisc CD SDL 358.
  • Siegfried Sassoon

    Everyone Sang, read by Emily Bruni

  • 00:56

    Eric Whitacre

    A Boy and a Girl

    Performers: Polyphony, Stephen Layton (conductor)

    • Hyperion CDA67543.
  • Alastair Reid

    A Lesson in Music, read by Emily Bruni

  • 01:01

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je, maman' K265

    Performers: Livia Rev (piano)

    • Hyperion CDA 66185.
  • Louis de Bernieres

    Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, read by Emily Bruni

  • 01:07

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Three Part Invention

    Arranger: Mayor Performers: Simon Mayor (mandolin)

    • Acoustics CDACS 014.
  • Cecil Day Lewis

    Cornet Solo, read by Peter Capaldi

  • 01:10

    Trad

    Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

    Arranger: Hunsberger Performers: Wynton Marsalis (cornet), Eastman Wind Ensemble

    • CBS Records MK 42137.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 6 Dec 2009 22:15
  • Sun 7 Aug 2011 22:15

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.